


Sleeping Beauty

by Pastaaddict



Series: Hetalia Tales [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers, Sleeping Beauty - All Media Types
Genre: Infant Prince is taken into hiding, Linked Fairy-tales, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Promised Prince meets mysterious girl and falls in love, Roman Empire and Germania are fathers not grandfathers, originally Posted on FanFiction.Net under the same name
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-10-04 11:16:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17303624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pastaaddict/pseuds/Pastaaddict
Summary: When Dark Sorceress Natalya curses baby Prince Feliciano, The Three Fae, Arthur, Lukas and Vladimir take him into hiding. Sixteen years later, Prince Ludwig meets a young girl in the forest and falls in love but he's been promised in an arranged marriage to Prince Feliciano!





	1. Blessings and Curses

**Author's Note:**

> This was the very first fanfiction I wrote and I'll be changing a few things. Other languages are by Google Translate so if I get anything wrong, please let me know so I get it right……
> 
>  
> 
> Disclaimer : I do not own Hetalia or Sleeping Beauty.

 

**_**BLESSINGS AND CURSES** _ **

Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Italy lived King Romulus of the House of Vargas and his Queen, Marie and for many years they wanted a child and finally their dream came true. A son was born and they named him Lovino but their joy was short lived. Two days after they celebrated his birth he disappeared.

Many attempts were made to find him but he was not found. The kingdom grieved for the missing prince but, while Lovino was still being sought, joy returned to the kingdom with the birth of a second son whom they named Feliciano. It meant happy and he was named for the happiness he brought back into their lives.

There was a great celebration and Romulus invited his friend, King Wolfgang of Germania and Regent of the Kingdom of Prussia, and his young son Prince Ludwig and stepson, Crowned Prince Gilbert of Prussia, of the House of Beilschmidt. These two kings had wished for their kingdoms to unite for a long time and so, on this day, Prince Feliciano was promised in marriage to Prince Ludwig when they came of age.

Ludwig looked down at his future spouse. The blonde, blue-eyed three year old was not impressed by the auburn-haired baby with the funny left hand curl. Lugwig's six year old albino half brother, Gilbert stood nearby, snickering at Ludwig's fate when he came of age.

Also invited to the celebration were the three Fae, Arthur of the Kirkland Clan, Lukas of the Bondevik Tribe and Vladimir of the Popescu Line in the hope that they would bless the infant prince. Arthur had messy blonde hair, huge eyebrows and the greenest eyes in creation. Lukas was also blonde but a lighter shade, one side of which was held back by a cross barrette and a curl that seemed to float independently at the side of his head with blue eyes that displayed no emotion but you could get lost in them if you stare into them and Vladimir was a strawberry blonde with red eyes and what appeared to be fangs which he was hiding right now from the royal family for fear of scaring them. All had wings the colour of their eyes and dressed in the same hues.

They flew to the cradle where the little prince slept and gazed at the newest Italian royal. Arthur, despite his rather cynical nature, was a softy for children. They brought out his paternal side. Lukas was not so fond of children but thought Feliciano was 'cute' and Vladimir cooed over the infant prince.

Having paid their respects to the child they flew to the thrones to stand before the King and Queen and bowed.

"Your Majesties!"

"Each of us will give one gift to the child," Arthur said with a British accent. He approached the cradle and raised his wand.

"Sweet prince," he chanted. "Beauty will be my gift." He spun his wand in the air which created a glittery cloud in the air which floated into the cradle and covered the prince in little lights which were absorbed into his skin. Arthur stepped away and Lukas took his place.

"Lille prins, jeg setter gaveens sang i stemmen din _(_ __Little Prince, I put the gift of song in your voice_ _ _),"_ Lukas chanted in his native Norwegian, and waved his own wand in the air and another glittering cloud floated into the cradle and was absorbed like before. Vladimir stepped up and raised his wand and began in Romanian.

 

"Micul Print, darul cel mai pretios este ....." ( _Tiny Prince, the most precious gift is ....._ _)_

Suddenly there was a fierce wind that blew out many of the candles in the throne room as the doors slammed open and a wild wind blew in. As the wind died away, a woman was stood in the door opening. She had long silvery white hair and blue eyes that flashed purple and she wore a dark blue robe. She carried a staff with a crystal globe set in the top in one hand and a dark aura surrounded her. A crow flew around her head and landed on the globe.

"Natalya!" Arthur gasped.

"What's she doing here?" Vladimir's voice held a note of contempt. Lukas shushed him.

The Dark Sorceress was a legend in magical circles. It was rumoured she had made the Ice King, Ivan of the Russias, disappear for refusing her offer of marriage. The fact he was her brother was not a good enough reason for her and their older sister, Katyusha, Witch of the Fields, had vanished before Ivan. It was believed Natalya did not want competition for his affections but no one knew for certain if the rumours were true. It was only known that Ivan and Katyusha had not be seen since.

She had also been invited to the celebration of Lovino's birth. There had been trouble when Natalya felt slighted over her seating, believing she had not been placed according to her importance. Many suspected her as responsible for Lovino's disappearance but no magic had been detected in the room the infant prince had vanished from and he had not been found at Natalya's castle in the forbidden mountains, many leagues distant or very close by, depending on her mood. There was no proof but for this reason, no invitation had been sent for this celebration.

Dangerous decision!

Natalya looked over the royal family, remembering when she had been a part of one. Until her older sister had garnered all her brother's affection.

 

 _"_ __Natalya," Katyusha denied. "That's ridiculous. My affection for Ivan is as his sister. To love him any other way is unnatural. I know that and so should you."_ _

 

 _"_ __You want to take him from me. He is mine and I won't let you have him. We will become one and you won't stop us."_ _

 

 _"_ Ty zbozhevoliv _!_ _(You are insane!)" the Ukrainian princess gasped. "I don't want him, not like that and he won't marry you, Natalya. He thinks it's unnatural to marry your own sibling as well."_

 

 _"_ __Because you poisoned his mind against me. Well, not any more." Natalya pointed her staff at Katyusha and there was a flash of light._ _

 

Natalya stared at the little group with a stab of jealousy at the sweet family picture the royals before presented.

"Well, King Romulus," Natalya said, coldly in a Belarusian accent. "This is quite an assembly. Every noble and social rank in all the kingdoms …." Her eyes stopped at the sight of the Fae, "....including the rabble!"

The Three Fae glowered at Natalya, Arthur and Lukas holding back Vladimir as he looked ready to attack her.

"I had wondered if my invitation had gone astray," she continued, stroking her pet with the knuckles of her left hand. The crow was strange looking as it had rich brown feathers rather than black and had brown eyes the colour of warm caramel and a feather stuck out on the right side of his head in a curl.

"If I didn't know better,” Natalya continued. “I would have said that I wasn't wanted.”

"After what happened last time,” Romulus replied. “I would have thought you would not want to come.” It was a not-so-subtle hint at the trouble and aftermath of the celebration of Lovino's birth.

“So I wasn't invited!” Natalya exclaimed. "Oh, that is awkward! Well, in that case I better leave before I cause any discomfort." Natalya turned away but it would not be left at that as she turned back.

"But I can't leave without, at least bestowing a gift on the new prince," the Dark Sorceress replied with poisonous sugar in her tone. "Just to show I have no hard feelings." The Fae crowded protectively around the cradle. Natalya did not grant gifts, she cast curses. Natalya swung her staff in a wide arc.

"Prince Feliciano will grow to be a beautiful boy,” Natalya announced. “And he will be loved by everyone he meets. BUT!" The crow flew off the crystal globe as she stroked her hand over it and shadows shot from it into the air and began to form a shadow play.

"On his sixteenth birthday,” Natalya said. “Before sundown, he will prick his finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel, (the shadows pulled together to form a figure sat at a spinning wheel) and DIE!" (the figure fell away from the spinning wheel to the floor and lay like a corpse. As the shadows broke apart, the Queen ran to the cradle, plucked Feliciano from it and held him close as he began to cry. Natalya laughed, cruelly.

"ARREST HER!" Romulus ordered, angrily, his Italian blood boiling that anyone would threaten his son. Guards ran to obey their king but Natalya flicked her fingers at them, making them duck as knives flew from nowhere and she banged her staff on the floor.

"Stay back, idiots!" Flames shot up around Natalya and engulfed her and her crow and the fire vanished taking both mistress and pet with it leaving behind Natalya's mocking laughter.

Silence hung around the throne room, broken only by the Queen softly crying, hugging her son. The three Fae looked at each other as they try to decide what to do as Romulus embraced his weeping wife and crying infant son. The sight broke Arthur's heart.

"Don't despair, Your Majesty," he said, softly. "Vladimir hasn't given his gift yet."

"He can undo this curse, Si ( _Yes_ ) ?" he asked, hopefully. But his hopes were dashed. Vladimir held up his hands and shook his head.

"I'm afraid not, Sire!" he replied, emphatically. Arthur came to his side, "Natalya's too powerful." Lukas pushed Vladimir forward.

"But he can help." He pushed him a little further in front. "Just give your best shot."

Vladimir sighed and thought hard about what he could do to offset the curse and knew there was only way he could, raised his wand and chanted the spell so all could understand.

 

_"Tiny prince, Your finger pricked by the spindle is true._

_But the curse of Death is not your due._

_The repose of sleep is where you'll dwell._

_Until True Love's Kiss can break the spell."_

 

"True love conquers all," Arthur murmured, a closet romantic, as a swirl of magic erupted from Vladimir's wand and covered the baby.

"That's all I can do," he said, regretfully. King Romulus knew it was better than the alternative but was still afraid for his child. He had lost one son, it would not happen again! He ordered all spinning wheels burnt and forbade all ownership of them on pain of death.

It would be in vain!

 

 

 


	2. Partings And Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Fae have a plan.....but King Romulus won't like it.....

 

** **CHAPTER 2 : PARTINGS AND MEETINGS** **

Flames roared high into the night as the palace guards threw the spinning wheels that had been collected from the nearby town on the bonfire that had been built in the middle of the courtyard. There would be other bonfires as more would come from throughout the rest of the kingdom. It had only been a few hours since the fateful curse and King Romulus was already desperately trying to eradicate the threat to little Feliciano.

Arthur looked out at the scene from the window of the throne room, now empty of royalty and guests, before turning back into the room in exasperation.

"Completely pointless," he huffed. He knew this would not prevent Natalya from paying off her grudge. "Stupid gits!"

"Romulus is only doing what he feels he has to," Lukas pointed out. Vladimir snorted.

"And he seriously thinks that this will work?" he asked, sarcastically. "Natalya won't be beaten by a bonfire."

"Of course not," Arthur agreed, magicking up a teapot and three teacups "But we need to come up with something that will stop her."

"I don't suppose talking to her would do any good?" suggested Lukas, taking his cup, even knowing the response.

"You don't suppose right!" Arthur replied. "Natalya can't be reasoned with any more. I don't know what happened to her to make her like that. To think that we once called her friend."

"Hard to believe now!" Vladimir commented, incredulously.

"Nobody is all bad," Lukas stated.

"She is!" Arthur replied, contemptuously. "Once I would have agreed with you but some of the things she's done …..." Vladimir remembered the time Natalya tried to imprison his lover, Aleksander, to use his dragon shifting abilities for her own nefarious purposes. If it had not been for Vlad, Arthur and Lukas, Aleksander would have been her slave right now but now he was warded against that ever happening to him again.

"I'd like to turn her into ….. I don't know, something slimy," he huffed then sipped his tea.

"You shouldn't feel that way," Lukas scolded.

"Lukas is right," Arthur agreed. "If we start using our magic in such a way, we'll go down the path of darkness and end up like Natalya ourselves. Our magic must only be used to do the right thing."

"That feels right to me!"

"But there must be something we can do." Lukas's voice drifted behind Arthur as he turned back to the window to consider their options. Suppose they turn Feliciano into something that can't... Then Arthur thought of his garden, a hobby he was passionate about and an idea came to him at the same time he was wondering if his human husband, Francis, had remembered to water the plants.

"There is!" he declared and hurried back to the other two.

"I'm going to..." then he stopped. "Wait!"

He flew around casting concealment spells around the room and locking the doors. Shimmering barriers appeared over the windows and then Arthur cast spells so they could not be heard from the outside. After casting detection spells to make sure they were the only ones in the room, he flew back down to the others.

"I'm going to turn Feliciano into a flower!"

"He should make a nice flower," Lukas mused over the idea. "But why?"

"Don't you see," Arthur said, excitedly. "A flower can't prick its finger."

"It hasn't any!" Vlad realised. Arthur nodded. "He'll be completely safe." But Lukas spotted a problem.

"Until Natalya sends a frost." That killed the excitement. Arthur's face fell as he remembered past incidents.

"Oh yeah!" Vladimir pouted. "We should have thought of that. She'd do that just on a whim, never mind to get at Prince Feliciano."

"You're right," Arthur conceded. "And she'll be waiting for us to try something like that."

"What won't she expect? She knows everything," Vlad was frustrated.

"What does she know about helping another being, any more?" Lukas replied, coolly. "About caring about the happiness of another person. She might have known once but she seems to have lost that knowledge." Lukas thought about his lover, the Troll King, Matthias. He tested Lukas's patience and made him want to strangle him sometimes but Lukas still loved him and wanted him to be happy. Not that he would ever let it show. "I think that's why she's not happy herself." That was when inspiration hit Arthur again.

"Of course." he blurted. "It's the last thing she'd expect." Lukas and Vladimir turned to him.

"What!"

"The King and Queen will object, of course," he mused. "Especially with what happened to Prince Lovino so we'll have to convince them that it's the only way..."

"Explain what?" Vlad asked, pulling Arthur out of his musings.

"About the three peasants raising a foundling child as their own." Lukas looked suspicious.

"Well, that's nice of them," he said, slowly. "Who are they?"

"Turn around!"

Lukas and Vladimir turned and faced one of the many mirrors that graced the walls of the throne room, seeing their reflections in the glass surface. Arthur had waved his wand and change their clothing to that of working citizens, Vladimir in red and Lukas, for some reason, in pink. For someone who always wore green, Arthur seemed to have a thing for the colour pink. Sometimes Lukas worried about him and used his own wand to change the colour to blue.

"Us!" Vladimir gasped. "Take care of the baby!"

"But we would have to wash him and dress him..." Lukas protested.

"And rock him to sleep," Vladimir was surprisingly warming to the idea of being a foster parent. "We can teach him things. I think I might like it"

"Raising a child is not something to be taken lightly," Lukas reasoned. "It's not a pastime. It's a huge responsibility."

"One I've already undertaken," Arthur pointed out, thinking about his adopted twin sons. "So I have some experience. Besides, do either of you wankers have a better idea?"

"Do you use that language in front of Alfred and Matthew?" Lukas admonished. "You can't swear like that in front of Feliciano." Lukas did not realise it but he had just agreed to the plan.

"So I'll curb the swearing," Arthur replied. "Look, if mortals can do it, why not us?" The others thought about it and nodded and Arthur moved to remove the spells around the throne room.

"And we'll have our magic to help us," Lukas said. Arthur froze for a moment and turned to the others.

"NO!" he shouted and, before Lukas could react, he grabbed his wand out of his hand. "No magic."

"What!" Vlad jumped away as Arthur tried to take his wand. "Live like mortals for SIXTEEN YEARS!"

"Better lose the wings, too," Arthur threw magic at Lukas and his wings vanished. Vlad flew upwards but fell into the King's throne when Arthur made his wings disappear.

"We don't know how! We've never done anything without magic," Vlad was keeping away from Arthur as much as he could. Arthur rushed forward to grab the wand and missed.

"That's why Natalya would never suspect and there would be no magic for her to trace. Now give me the wand." Arthur flew up over Vlad's head to grab the wand before landing and magicking his own wings away.

"Let's go," Arthur removed the spells from the throne room and then they went to find King Romulus.

* * *

Arthur crept through the corridors of the castle, the other Fae following him, Lukas, carrying Feliciano and Vladimir watching their backs. It had taken long and hard persuasion for King Romulus to see that this was the best way to protect his son. Now they had to leave without being seen and without any magic that could be traced.

They made it to a secret door the King had revealed to them that led outside. They stole into the nearby wood and spirited the baby prince away into the night, the King and Queen watching from a window as, for a second time, their child was taken away from them.

* * *

They settled in a house in Rome, speculating that Natalya would not suspect they would stay within Italy itself. Arthur placed the baby in the plain cradle they had managed to procure.

"Goodnight, Sweet Prince," he quoted as he covered Feliciano with a blanket. Then he left the other two Fae to guard the infant royal while he returned home to his husband and twin sons to perform one last piece of magic before settling down to sixteen years as a mortal.

* * *

"Must we do this, Arthur?" Francis asked as Arthur drew intricate circles on the floor in chalk. "Is it necessary to send us through time sixteen years?"

"I have to take Prince Feliciano into hiding, Francis," Arthur replied, putting the finishing touches to the magic circle and began putting candles around the outer edge. "If I don't send you and the boys through time, I'll miss sixteen years of your lives. The boys will be twenty-four by the time I come back. Please do this for me."

Arthur and Francis had not initially got along when they first met. Arthur had gone to the Kingdom of Germania, where he met the travelling French inventor, to deal with a Dark Fae who was taking children, brought into the woods so she could eat them. His blonde, long haired and stubbly bearded future husband had slowly work his way into Arthur's heart as they worked together to save six year-old twin orphans, Alfred and Matthew, from becoming her latest victims. They defeated the Fae, married and adopted Alfred and Matthew. That was two years ago and the boys were now eight.

"Dad?" asked a quiet voice. "Papa?"

Arthur turned towards the door to see Alfred and Matthew standing there. The boys had the same face but there were differences. Alfred was blonde, had sky-blue eyes and a funny cow-lick that stuck up, no matter what Arthur tried to do to make it stay down. Matthew was also blonde, but his hair somewhat longer and slightly lighter and he had violet eyes and a strand of hair that stuck outwards and curled in the middle. Their personalities differed as well. Matthew was almost painfully shy while Alfred was extremely extrovert and quite often over-shadowed his quieter brother.

Matthew stood, holding his pet white bear cub, Kumajirou. Arthur never knew where he'd come from, Matthew had come home with him one day. He'd been here ever since and, fortunately, had never grown. Alfred had his pet rabbit, Liberty. It was better than the pet bison Alfred tried to bring home. Arthur drew the line at that.

"Are you leaving us, Dad?" Alfred asked.

"That's why I'm sending you forward in time," Arthur knelt down beside the twins and put a hand on each of their cheeks. "So you won't know I'm gone. There's a bad sorceress after a little baby and he needs protection."

"So you're going to be a hero?" Arthur smiled at him. Alfred had an obsession with heroes.

"You could say that," he replied, hoping it would make it easier for Alfred to accept. "But this baby will be in danger for a long time. But I promise, I'll be waiting for you when you arrive."

Both boys hugged Arthur as he looked at Francis for his approval. Francis finally nodded. Arthur stood up, and the two embraced and shared a passionate kiss, then reluctantly parted.

"Nous revenir, mon coeur," Francis whispered in French. ( _ Come back to us, my heart) _

"I will," Arthur whispered back, kissed the two boys on the top of their heads and stepped away.

"Okay," he said, lighting the candles. "Stand in the circle and you MUST hold hands." Francis took each of his son's hands and led them into the middle of the circle. Arthur raised his wand and began to chant in a voice so low his words could not be heard. When he finished the circle began to glow.

"LIBBY!" The little rabbit had jumped out of Alfred's arms and bolted. Alfred let go of Francis's hand and ran after her.

"No! Alfred!" Arthur shouted as he grabbed Alfred and pushed him back to the circle. "Take hold of your father's hand. NOW!" Alfred ran back to the circle, trusting his Dad to look after his pet, and reached for Francis's hand.

Arthur could not tell if Alfred had managed to catch hold before he was blinded by a flash of light. When the light faded, the trio had vanished, leaving Arthur praying that Alfred had managed to catch hold of his father's hand in time.

* * *

"Bring the boy here, Norge!" Matthias commanded. "We can protect him."

Matthias was in human form. With spiky blonde hair and blue eyes, his human form was extremely handsome. His troll form was larger, bulkier and he sported tusks on his lower jaw and the Danish Troll King was not happy with the idea of losing 'Norge' for sixteen years.

"Arthur's right," Lukas replied. He had thought about it while waiting for Arthur to return. "Natalya will expect us to use magic to protect Prince Feliciano and this method will throw her off but if we stay in the Magic Realm, she'll find us. Can you truly guarantee she'd never reach the boy?"

Matthias could not. Not absolutely.

"Must I lose you for so long, Norge?" When Lukas met Matthias, Matthias called Lukas Norge in reference to his Norwegian origins. It was not initially a friendly term due to a misunderstanding (trolls had such a bad but undeserved reputation). Now 'Norge' was an affectionate nickname for his lover.

"We are long lived, Matthias," Lukas replied. "Sixteen years are a blink of an eye. Arthur had to send his husband and sons into the future and Vlad is also making this sacrifice because it's the best chance to protect the prince." Matthias accepted that Lukas was going to do this.

"Jeg vil savne dig, Norge," he acquiesced in Danish, kissing Lukas on the forehead. "Jeg skal nok drukne mig selv i drikke." ( _ I'll miss you, Norge. I'll probably drown myself in drink) _

"And you wonder why I try to strangle you!"

* * *

"I'll keep an eye and ear out in the Magic Realm for you," the black haired, green-eyed man replied.

"No argument, Aleksander?" Vladimir asked. His Bulgarian dragon shifter lover shrugged.

"I can see the logic," Alek replied. "Natalya will expect you to protect Prince Feliciano in the Magic Realm so it will be the first place she will look. When she doesn't find him here, it'll confuse her and she'll have to figure out where you are but there's always a chance she might get close. If it looks like that's going to happen, I can send word."

"Thank you for not making this harder than it needs to be." Vladimir embraced his lover.

"Prosto se vŭrni v shestnadesetgodina," Aleksander plead in Bulgarian. "Shte bŭde samotna, bez teb."  _ (Just come back in sixteen years. I'll be lonely without you.) _

"I promise!"

* * *

_ 5 Years later... _

People lined the streets of Rome to see the Royal Procession riding through, taking HRE (His Royal Eminence) Prince Ludwig of Germania home from school in the city. It had been decided that, as he would one day rule the kingdom, he should go to school there. Red, black and gold horizontally striped flags fluttered everywhere and there was a festival atmosphere in the air. Children ran about, laughing while the parents smiled at their antics. It was all good fun until ….

"CHIBITALIA!"

There was a scream, a gasp went up from the people and Prince Ludwig was thrown about in the carriage as the horses reared up and some of the cortège ran to get them under control. When the confusion had died down, the only sound was of a child, weeping.

Ludwig climbed out of the carriage and saw a little girl lying in the street, dangerously close to the horses hooves, shaking and crying in fear. She was no older than five.

A lean man, dressed in green, with untidy, wheat-coloured hair, huge eyebrows and bright green eyes pushed his way through the crowd, ran forward and hugged the little girl and began checking her for injuries. Ludwig found him oddly familiar.

"Is she all right?" Ludwig asked as the child cuddled into the man's chest as the man looked up and his eyes widened. He bowed as well as he could, kneeling on the ground, holding a crying child and the little girl looked toward the boy, dressed in a black robe and hat, edged with gold with a white jabot, who had spoken.

She had auburn hair, covered with a white headscarf with a curl springing out to the left, eyes of golden amber and the sweetest face. She wore a green dress, covered with a white apron.

"Si  _ (Yes _ ) _ ," _ she said. "I'm all right." Ludwig felt a thump in his eight year-old heart at the sound of her voice.

"Gott sei Dank! ( _ Thank goodness! _ ) What is your name?" he asked the little girl, softly. The blonde man pulled the child onto his knee.

"Her name is Italia, Your Royal Eminence" he said. "But we call her Chibitalia." He hugged Chibitalia tight.

"Your Royal Eminence," One of the servants interrupted. "We must be on our way. The King is expecting us." Ludwig wanted to stay and talk to Chibitalia but the servant was right. The man picked the little girl up, bowed to the prince and left the road, disappearing into the crowd with Ludwig staring after them.

* * *

As the royal carriage went on its way, Arthur breathed a sigh of relief. After her Italian history and language lessons, he had taken Chibitalia out to see the parade as a reward for doing well. When Chibitalia became over excited and ran out in front of the Royal Carriage, his heart almost stopped. Of all the people that could have happened in front of, it had to be Prince Ludwig! Had the Germanic royal recognized him?. Arthur did not think so, after all Ludwig had only been three years old when he last saw him but from now on they would need to be more careful.

They hurried home as quickly as possible. As they approached the door, a voice called out.

"Arthur-san!"

Arthur turned to see his neighbour, Kiku Honda, hurrying toward him. When he reached them, he bowed.

_"Kon'nichiwa (_ _ Hello ) ," _ he greeted and turned to Chibitalia. "Kon'nichiwa, Chibitalia."

Kiku was their neighbour who hailed from the Kingdom of Japan and it was he who coined Italia's nickname. When he heard her name 'Italia' meaning 'Italy' he called her 'Chibitalia', 'Little Italy'

But a secret was being kept, even from Chibitalia herself.

She was a boy.

When the Three Fae came to Rome they had decided, as a extra precaution, to tell everyone that Feliciano was a girl and changed his/her name. Anyone Natalya sent by surprise, asking about a boy would overlook a little girl. With any luck.

"Your brothers are looking for you," Kiku told Arthur. "It sounded most urgent. They ask me to tell you to stay home if they should not find you." That sounded ominous.

"Thank you, Kiku-san," Arthur replied, honouring Kiku with the same honorific he had given him. He opened the door and ushered Chibitalia inside.

"Arrivederci  _ ( _Goodbye_ ), _ Kiku-san," she called.

"Sayonara  _ ( _Goodbye_ ), _ Chibitalia," he replied and turned to Arthur. "Sayonara, Arthur-san."

"Goodbye, Kiku-san," Arthur replied and closed the door.

* * *

It was another two hours before Lukas and Vladimir returned home. Arthur had put Chibitalia to bed, cuddling her pet rabbit, Libby, and he was sat sipping a cup of tea when they rushed through the door.

"There you are!" Vladimir gasped, like he'd been rushing. "We must leave!" Arthur looked from one Fae to the other. As usual, Lukas showed no emotion but something in his body language screamed tension.

"What's happened?" he demanded.

"I've heard from Aleksander," Vlad replied. "He's heard from others in the Magic Realm that Natalya's minions are heading to Rome."

This was bad. Someone just asking about the missing prince would not be told about Chibitalia but if someone from the magic realm came looking and saw the Fae they could be recognized instantly.

"Staying in the city was a mistake," Lukas said. "Perhaps staying closer to the castle might have been wiser. There's the old woodcutter's cottage we can use. The abandoned one."

"That might be a good idea," Arthur conceded. "Natalya would never expect us to stay so close to Italia's parents."

"I'll start packing," Vladimir began gathering things together. Lukas went to get Chibitalia and Arthur went to get a cart for their journey.

* * *

When Prince Ludwig returned to school, he made inquiries about the whereabouts of Chibitalia but he never found her.

Kiku disappeared from Rome the same night as the Fae and Chibitalia so, fortunately, as he was the only one who had really known them, there was no one to tell Natalya's minions about them either.

  
  


 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HRE. See what I did there? XP
> 
> Next chapter : A walk in the woods and an expected meeting.....


	3. Tell Me It's Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natalya's desperate to find Feliciano and the three uncles prepare for Italia's sixteenth birthday …..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please excuse my crap song-writing and please let me know if the Belarusian is rubbish.....I used Google Translate....

 

****CHAPTER 3 : Tell Me It's Love!** **

 

__11 years later...._ _

The Forbidden Mountains lived up to their name. Thick mist obscured the peaks and no sunlight could shine at the foothills and, on the highest peak, stood Natalya's castle. Pointing into the sky like a gnarled hand, some of it was crumbling and had parts that looked ready to fall into the abyss below. Lightning flashed around the castle in tune with Natalya's current temper tantrum.

"HOW?!" she shrieked. "How can someone disappear for sixteen years?" After searching the Magic Realm (predictably), she had gone to Kirkland's home after the prince disappeared to see if they had gone there and maybe use Kirkland's family to force him to give up the prince but found no one, just the lingering scent of a Tempus Spell. Kirkland had sent his mortal husband and sons into the future. Wise.

Since then, no sign.

She turned to her minions, pig-like creatures she had created to be her loyal lackeys. Not the brightest creatures she had created but what they lacked in intelligence they made up for in vicious loyalty. Now she wondered if she should have concentrated on their intellect.

"Have you searched everywhere?" she demand with narrowed eyes. “Every possible place.” A cacophony of noise erupted as all the creatures spoke at once to assure her that everyone of them had left no stone unturned.

"Where?"

"Cities, towns, villages," the pig captain replied. "Every house and every cradle."

"Cradle!" Natalya realised their low intelligence WAS an oversight.

"Yep!" the captain replied, proudly. "Every cradle we found."

"CRADLE!" Natalya turned to her crow, standing on the arm of her throne-like chair. "They're still looking for a baby, my pet." She began laughing to herself, hysterically. Her soldiers were unsure what she was laughing about but began to laugh with her. Until she suddenly stopped and turned her cold and enraged gaze on them.

"FOOLS!" she screamed and the soldiers realized they had made some mistake, even if they did not know what that mistake was. "UTTER, UTTER IMBECILES!"

She waved her staff then aimed at her lackeys. They ran to escape the lightning magic that erupted from the staff but not everyone managed and those she missed she got with the next shot and the next. She did not stop until she had blasted them all out of the room. Then she sat with a weary sigh. No wonder the prince had not been found.

"Jany zjaŭliajucca absaliutnym hańbaj _(_ _ _They are an absolute disgrace__ )," Natalya declared in Belarusian and turned to her pet, putting her hand down for him to step on to.

"You will search for Prince Feliciano," she threw the crow into the air. "He has auburn hair with a wayward curl. Do NOT fail me!"

The last came out as a warning!

* * *

After making her bed, Italia opened her bedroom window to let in the morning, humming a happy tune as she looked out at the forest. She sat before her bedroom mirror, tidying her hair. Most was gathered at the back of her head and fell down in a wavy ponytail. The rest fell about the sides, framing her face and her amber coloured eyes, a stray strand creating a large curl on the left and she wore a blue skirt and a white blouse with a black waist-clincher. Not that there was much to clinch. The clincher gave her a waist but she was not very endowed up top. In fact she wasn't endowed at all.

She remembered seeing older girls when she lived in Rome who seemed to have more on their chests and she recently asked Uncle Arthur about it. Uncle Arthur turned bright red and hummed and hawed for a while. Then, with a face showing he wished he was somewhere else, he explained that girls developed breasts as they got older and they came in different sizes. Italia had just been unlucky. Fortunately for Arthur, Italia never asked about other parts of her anatomy.

Strangely, the questions her uncles seemed to find most awkward were the ones she asked about her parents. They told her that she had been a foundling child, that they had taken her into their care and she had been with them since she was a baby. Today was her sixteenth birthday and she was sure Uncle Arthur, Uncle Lukas and Uncle Vladimir were planning something.

Downstairs the three 'Uncles' were gathered around a book about making clothes, choosing what they were going to make for Italia. Today 'she' would become Prince Feliciano again.

"Definitely this one," Arthur pointed out. Vladimir agreed.

"He'll look so handsome in that." He gazed at the picture of the tunic and leggings that any prince would be proud to wear.

"It should be blue," Lukas declared. Arthur shook his head.

"No, pink," he corrected. Lukas looked at him. Honestly, what was it with him and pink? Lukas was going to avoid Arthur's cupcakes. Wait! He already did.

"Perhaps with a few adjustments to the neckline and the sleeves," Arthur mused.

"Ve~ What are you three up to?" Italia's voice rang out as she descended the stairs. The Fae turned to hide the book and Vladimir quickly shut it

"Up to?" Arthur denied. Lukas echoed him. They looked for a distraction.

"We were … we wer …," Arthur stuttered.

"We want you to pick some berries," Vladimir said, emptying a basket already full of berries into a bowl and shoving it into Italia's hands. Lukas joined in. He grabbed some bread, cheese, an apple and a flask of berry juice and put them in the basket for Italia's breakfast.

"Yes, berries," Arthur said, grabbing Italia's wrap.

"But this basket was full of berries I picked yesterday," she protested. Arthur put the wrap around her shoulders.

"We need more, poppet," he insisted. “We're making jams and pies.”

"So we need a lot more," Vladimir added. Lukas moved her through the door as she grabbed her paper and pastels off the shelf by it. "Now off you go, dear."

"But don't go too far!" ordered Arthur.

"And don't speak to strangers!" Lukas warned. Italia walked down the cottage path, smiling. Oh Si, they were planning something.

"Arrivederci ( __Goodbye_ _)," she called, putting the drawing implements in the basket with the food as she walked toward the trees. She would get out of their way and let them get on with it.

"Do you think he suspects?" asked Vladimir as he watched Italia walk into the woods.

"Not a bit," Arthur said, confidently. "Now let's get started." He moved back into the cottage with the others following.

"Now, we haven't much time."

"I'll get the wands," Lukas began to climb the stairs.

"NO!" Arthur almost shouted, "No magic"

"But the sixteen years are almost over," Lukas pointed out, walking back to Arthur. What they were planning, they had never done before. It would be harder without magic.

"That's no reason to take risks," replied Arthur, as he began to pull a bolt of cloth (pink) from a cupboard and dropping it into Lukas's arms.

"Arthur, I know you can embroider but you've never sewn clothes before," Lukas said with brutal honesty. The only person who came to the cottage was the seamstress from the nearest town to make Italia's clothes while she was growing. She was also the only person outside of the Fae who knew Italia's secret and, as a loyal citizen of Italy, had sworn to keep it.

"And I've never baked a fancy cake," Lukas added.

"I'm going to make the cake," Vladimir was already getting ingredients ready.

"YOU!"

"He wants to make Italia a birthday cake," Arthur quietly told Lukas. "And he won't get another chance.

"Hmm," Lukas was not so sure but as long as Arthur was not doing it. His cooking was the only thing worse than Natalya. Arthur directed Lukas up on to a stool and threw the cloth over his head.

"You can be the dummy," Lukas was not sure how to take that. Arthur began to cut and pin the cloth around Lukas which was when Lukas noticed the colour.

"It's PINK!" he said and did not know why he was surprised. "It should be blue."

"We decided pink suited Italia best."

"You decided!"

Vladimir was busy reading the recipe and it called for three cups of flour so he scooped three cups into the mixing bowl. All different sizes.

Lukas, in the meantime, looked down at Arthur's sewing effort, "It looks awful."

"That's because it's on you."

Two eggs. Vladimir tossed them into the mix with the shells on and stirred them in vigorously with a wooden spoon. There was a cracking sound.

Arthur realised Lukas had not said anything for a while and looked up to see his fellow Fae looking a little distant. While no emotion showed on his face Arthur knew something was bothering him.

"What's wrong, Lukas?"

"After today 'she'll' be a prince," he replied. "And Italia will be gone." His statement struck home.

"Arthur!" Vladimir wailed.

"Now we knew this day was coming," Arthur said, trying to be the serious one although his own heart ached at the thought of losing their charge. Italia was now as dear to him as Alfred and Matthew. "After all, we've had him for sixteen years."

"Sixteen wonderful years, " added Lukas with surprising emotion. Being a parent/guardian had grown on him. He had not felt this way since his half-ling brother vanished. Around the same time as King Ivan. "I remember when we first took him into our care."

"Just a tiny baby," Vlad reminisced, cuddling the mixing bowl. Arthur wondered what his sons would have looked like if he had not sent them through time and realised they were getting melancholy and shook his head to clear it.

"We're acting like a bunch of idiotic gits," he said, sternly. "We'd better get a move on before Italia comes back." And they set to their tasks with renew vigour.

* * *

Activity in the palace had begun very early in the morning in preparation for this very special day. The finest foods were being prepared and the palace guards were busy, polishing their armour. Prince Gilbert arrived on his horse in the midst of the hectic scene just as Ludwig was preparing to ride out.

"Kesesese. Escaping the chaos, bruder?" he asked as his cortège came in behind him.

Ludwig was in two minds about this day. Yes, everyone had been waiting for it. For the day Prince Feliciano would return home with the curse on him, thwarted. But it was also the day Ludwig would be forever tied to a stranger and he needed some space.

"Just going for a ride in the forest," he replied, petting his large German shepherd, Berlitz, who was ready for a good run. Gilbert took off his hat, giving it to the servant who was carrying his little yellow chick, Gilbird, and took the little bird from him, settling him in his hair.

"Well," he said as Gilbird snuggled down into his white locks. "Don't be back late or Vati _(_ __Father_ _ _)_ will have your head, especially today." A groom brought Ludwig's horse and he hauled himself into the saddle.

"I'll see you later, bruder," he answered as he set off, followed by Berlitz.

* * *

News that Italia was in the forest came to the Wood Sprite King and he and his court went to protect the sixteen year old as he had promised the Fae but Italia would not see sprites, she would see forest animals.

The king became an owl and his court, birds, squirrels and other woodland creatures. They rushed to her side, drawn by her singing. Her voice had changed a few years before and Arthur said she had a cold but her voice stayed changed but she still had the most melodious voice that would charm anyone who heard her sing. Not that many people did, this deep in the forest (other than the seamstress who came now and then to make her clothes), but the transformed sprites loved to hear her sing as they gathered around her. Italia sang to her woodland friends unaware she was surround by a ring of magical protection.

The Fae had decided this was safe. It was common practice for wood sprites to protect human forest dwellers who respected the woods. When Italia ventured forth, no trees were chopped down and no creatures were hunted. She was the perfect candidate for sprite protection. Besides, Natalya would not be looking for sprite magic anyway.

The bird sprites sang with her and even the king hooted in tune as she picked the berries that she was sure were just a ruse to get her out of the cottage but she did not mind. She loved the forest and her animal friends and sang louder.

* * *

The singing reached the ears of the nineteen year old Prince Ludwig as he rode through the forest, Berlitz running beside him. He stopped his horse and stood up in the saddle to listen.

"Where is that coming from?" he pondered as the voice sang again. It was beautiful whatever it was but strange. He turned in the direction of the singing and rode off to investigate, Berlitz following in his wake.

* * *

Italia strolled along a path she had walked many times before and she began to make up words to the tune she had been singing, " __Things come in pairs, the earth and the sky. The sun and the moon. Love-birds that fly! And two people wed so where do I start, to find the match to my heart!_ _ _"_

Italia had reached the edge of the forest where, through a gap in the trees, she could see a castle in the distance, surrounded by a city. She looked longingly at it, wondering what it would be like to live in such a place, like a princess, meeting many people from many lands. Except for the dressmaker, she had not met anyone since they had moved from the city when she was five. Uncle Lukas had awoken her one night and they had left their city home in the middle of it. She had slept most of the journey and when she woke, they were at the cottage and since then, every time someone came into the forest, her uncles kept her out of sight. It was only recently that she had more freedom but, for some reason, she never met strangers so she never had to stay away from them.

Italia sat down and removed her breakfast and her drawing tools from her basket and, in between bites of food and sips of juice, she drew the distant castle and landscape. When the picture was finished to her satisfaction and the food was gone, she put her picture and pastels away and looked back at the castle and, once again, thought about the people who lived there.

Italia sometimes felt a little lonely with no one her own age and no other girls to speak to. She loved her uncles, they had been there all her life, from her first step, her first word, comforted her when her pet rabbit, Libby had died but there seemed to be no one else in her world and she longed for something new. But that was not likely to happen with her over-protective guardians.

"Vee~," she sighed, standing up and walking back into the woods. "Why do they still treat me like a child?"

"Hoo?" asked the Sprite King, hearing the sadness in Italia's voice.

"Uncle Arthur," she replied. "Uncle Lukas and Uncle Vladimir. They stop me from meeting anyone." She sat on a bent tree and then she giggled.

"But," she confided to the animals. "I HAVE met someone."

The Sprite King was stunned. How could Italia have met someone without him noticing. Neither he nor his people left her alone for a moment when she was in the forest. It was why the Fae allowed Italia in the forest on her own.

"Hoo?" He had to find out so he could warn the Fae.

"Just a prince," Italia said, nonchalantly. "He's tall and handsome and, Ve~, so romantic.!"

The attention of the sprites had been peaked by the idea that their favourite visitor had a secret romance and chirped and squeaked, wanting to know more.

"We walk, talk," she continued. "And when we say goodbye, he takes me in his arms... " The Sprite King did NOT like the sound of this.

"Then …." The other sprites moved forward, excitedly.

"I wake up!"

The sprites let out their animal versions of ' Awwwh' although the King was relieved that Italia was talking about a dream and he had not failed in his promise to the Fae.

"Vee~," Italia sighed. "It was just a dream." Then she brightened. "But I've dreamt about him so many times and they say if you dream a dream more than once, it will come true." She sighed, mistily, stroking a young rabbit, not realising she was stroking the Sprite King's son who, if they had not made a promise to the Fae and the Prince had not been promised in marriage, might have been tempted to claim the Italian Prince for himself.

A squirrel sprite, standing on a high branch, suddenly spotted something. A red cloak and a hat were hanging from a tree branch in the distance. Then he saw Prince Ludwig sat by a nearby stream, soaked, pulling off his boots and staring balefully at his horse. It looked like, somehow, the horse had dumped him in the stream. The sprite got his king's attention who flew to see what was happening. When he saw the clothing being discarded, he had an idea and gathered his court around him and told them what he wanted them to do.

* * *

"There was something strange about that voice," Ludwig mused to Berlitz who sat beside him. "It was too beautiful. Maybe it was a wood sprite or..." Berlitz suddenly barked and Ludwig turned to see his boots hopping away, his hat running after them and his cloak flying off in to the trees and ran in pursuit.

* * *

The other sprites put the cloak around the Sprite King's neck and the hat on this head. Other bird sprites grabbed the cloak and flapped their wings to help keep the King aloft and two rabbit sprites jumped in the boots as they pretended to walk toward Italia.

Italia realized that something was happening when the other sprites keeping her company suddenly looked up. She turned and saw the owl and other birds and animals wearing human clothes they seemed to have procured and laughed.

"Vee~ It's my prince," she giggled. The animals managed to make a bow. "You know, I'm not supposed to speak to strangers. But we've met before." And she began to sing and dance with her 'Prince', " __It was love at first sight, that's how it seems. The very first night you appeared in my dreams. You're still there each night and I wish you were real. To tell me it's love that you feel!_ _ _"_

Humming and dancing, Italia did not noticed Prince Ludwig peering over a shrub at the pretty auburn-haired girl, dancing with the woodland animals that surrounded her, wearing his cloak and rabbits hopping about in his boots. She was slender and small-chested, almost like a boy. Berlitz growled at the sight of the strange girl and the even stranger animals that he sensed were not what they appeared to be but Ludwig gave him a sign to back down, gazing at the girl as she began to sing again and his heart thumped like it had not done since he was eight

 _"_ __I want you before me to tell me you're real and ….._ _

Hands entwined with hers and began to dance her around as another voice sang,

… __.. tell me it's love that you feel._ _ _”_

A man's voice.

A stranger's voice!

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italia's uncle have a shock for her …..


	4. A Royal Mess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Italia deals with her encounter with the stranger......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might be rewriting chapters 3 and 4 but here's chapter 4 in the meantime.....

 

** _**Chapter 4 : A Royal Mess** _ **

  
  


Italia looked up and saw her owl friend, still entangled in the cloak, hung up on a branch. The Sprite King could not believe he had been so distracted, he had let a stranger get close to Italia and struggled to free himself without revealing his true nature to Italia or the stranger.

Italia turned her head to look into the palest blue eyes she had ever seen. The man was tall, had blonde hair that was slicked back and was very handsome but he was a stranger. She pulled her hands from his, nervously but he managed to catch hold of one of them again as she tried to back away. The other sprites were ready to intervene when the man spoke gently.

"My apologies, fraulein _(_ _ _miss__ ) _,"_ he said in a Germanic accent. "I didn't mean to startle you." The girl in front of him was nervous and kept trying to pull her hand from his but he did not want to let her go which surprised Ludwig. Girls did not usually affect him this way although he always treated them politely. Being betrothed from the age of three, Ludwig never allowed for any possibility for romance to develop but he had long since realized that he had affections for men which was fortunate since his betrothed was male, although Feliciano might not hold the same affections. But it made his attraction for this slender young girl totally confusing.

"Ve~ It is not that," the girl replied, shyly. "I'm not suppose to speak to strangers." Ludwig smiled at her.

"But we've met before."

Italia tried to think about when she had last met anyone. She could only think back to when she was five. To Rome and the boy in the carriage. She had never forgotten but could this be him?

"Where, when?" she asked, hoping he would say Rome.

"You said it yourself, fraulein," the man replied. "Once upon a dream." Italia was disappointed but could not help but laugh at his teasing. He was very handsome and he made her young heart race.

"Would you take a walk with me?" he asked. She knew she should not but she agreed. They strolled, Berlitz following on their heels and the sprites flying and scampering around, ready to come to Italia's rescue if required. As they talked about this and that, she fell deeper and deeper in love. Eventually they found themselves at the edge of the forest, looking at the distant castle.

As Ludwig stood looking at King Romulus's castle, he was reminded of his betrothal and suddenly, the sight made him feel uncomfortable. He would one day rule this kingdom and his own with Prince Feliciano by his side but, other than his name, Ludwig knew nothing of the absent prince. No one did, not even Feliciano's own parents. It was done to keep the prince safe but it made for some awkward complications.

He would be a complete stranger. There was no guarantee they would even like each other. Just because Ludwig preferred men, it did not mean that he and Feliciano would get along. Not that mattered in an arranged marriage but it would be an uncomfortable life together.

"Ve~ I've looked at that castle so many times," Italia sighed. "But I know so little about it. Do you know anything?" Ludwig swallowed, uncomfortably.

"It's the castle of King Romulus, the Ruler of Italy," he replied. Italia smiled.

"I was named after Italy," she said. "Country of my birth."

Ludwig felt the girl's head fall against his shoulder. It was unconsciously done but it still made Ludwig's heart race. He knew nothing of this girl either but at least he had met her and he had the feeling he had met her before, but where? The curl and amber eyes reminded him of something then he remembered when he was eight and his carriage had almost run over a five year old girl who had made his heart thump like it did now. She had a curl just like that, eyes just that shade and, after eleven years, she would be about the age this girl was now. What had been her name?

Oh yes! The man he had assumed to be her father had called her Chibitalia as well as Italia. This girl said she was named after Italy. Could it be her? He had to know!

"What IS your name?" he asked.

Italia raised her head from his shoulder, pulled from her revelry by his question.

"Vee~ ?" she said, a little dazed. "Oh! My name! It's..." suddenly she realized what she was doing. What would her uncles say? She was supposed to stay away from strangers.

"Vee~ I can't!," she exclaimed and began running back into the forest. "Arrivederci!"  _ ( _ _ _ Goodbye! _ _ )

"Wait!" Ludwig called after her. "When can I see you again?" He did not know why he was asking that question when he could offer this girl no future with him. But he wanted to see her again.

"Never!" she called back, forgetting her basket as she ran past. He did not like that answer and, strangely, neither did she! She felt her heart become heavier with every step she took away from him. "Well, maybe some day."

"Tomorrow?" he asked, hopefully.

"No," she replied and then added. "Tonight! At the cottage. In the glade." Then she was out of his sight, followed by her animal friends.

Ludwig stayed where he was for a while, suddenly feeling alone as if the sunshine had disappeared from his life. When he retrieved his clothing (the owl having mysteriously vanished), he spotted the basket that the girl had left behind and he picked it up, walked back to his horse and returned to the castle.

* * *

Back at the cottage, things were not going well.

Everyone was oblivious to that except Lukas, who had watched the disaster unfold before his eyes. He knew this was going to happen. He just knew it. Arthur's clothes-making skills were worse than his cooking, if that were even possible, and Vladimir was in danger of winning the 'Worst Cook' award from him.

Vladimir was trying to decorate a cake that was falling into a messy gloop. He had not baked it long enough and it was still runny in the centre. The unbaked part broke through the cooked outer shell, making it sag in the middle so the icing and candles were sliding into the dipping centre. Arthur tried to say something good about Vladimir's first baking effort.

"It's …. unique," he commented, tactfully. Vlad desperately tried to keep it cake-shaped.

"It'll be firmer if I bake it a little more," he replied. Lukas rolled his eyes. Was Vladimir seriously thinking of putting the cake back in the oven while decorated. Even Arthur knew enough to bake the cake properly before decorating. Actually, make the cake burn. Now, about this monstrosity Lukas was modelling.

One sleeve was twice the length of his arm and while the other fitted the length, it was belled out and flapped about his other arm. The neckline was trying to strangle him and the tunic was far too short. The leggings match the sleeves but on opposite sides. Everything was tacked together loosely and threatening to fall apart at any moment. Vladimir tried to be as tactful as Arthur.

"It's different to the book, is it?" he pointed out. Arthur waved that off.

"Just one or two changes," he stated, defensively. "I was thinking a little more decoration, here and there."

"Perhaps," Vlad said, secretly thinking that nothing short of the fire grate could make it look better and turned to Lukas to pass the critic baton to him. "What do you think, Lukas?"

But Lukas had had enough.

Sweeping his arms out to his sides, (at which point the stitching on the extra long sleeve gave way and it flew across the room.) he fumed, "I thinking about what Italia is going to think about this mess." He stepped off the stool and as he walked towards the stairs, more stitching snapped and the 'garments' began falling off him in pieces.

"And I still think I'm right," he added. "I'm getting the wands!" He disappeared up the stairs. Material covered the room and the 'cake' finally deflated, the escaping uncooked batter making a puddle that dripped off the table and between the floor boards.

"Maybe he's right," Vladimir admitted. Both of their efforts were unmitigated disasters and both of them knew it. Lukas returned with the wands which were trailing magic, having not been used for so long.

"Careful, Lukas," Arthur warned, grabbing the wands and putting them under his jacket to contain the magic and then ordered, "Close the doors and windows. Make sure there's no way the magic can leave this room." Lukas and Vlad ran around, doing as they were told, plugging any gaps with the material that was littered about.

"Vladimir, you make the cake," Arthur said, handing Vladimir his wand and turned to give Lukas his.

"I'll ..." That was as far as Lukas got.

"Clean the room," Arthur finished, looking at the mess. "And I'll make the tunic." Lukas fumed inwardly and cast his magic at the broom, bucket and mop which began to clean up the mess.

Vladimir cast his wand at the ingredients and cooking utensils. A cup scooped three cupfuls of flour into the mixing bowl, sugar measured itself out and joined the flour, eggs cracked themselves and dumped their contents into the mix and a wooden spoon began to mix them together.

Arthur aimed his wand at the cupboard which opened and more (pink) material flew out of it. Scissors leapt from the sewing basket and expertly cut the right pieces just the right sizes, then sewing needles threaded themselves and began to stitch the pieces together.

Lukas looked over from where he was supervising the clean-up and groaned. Pink again! That was it. No prince should be dressed in pink and he cast his wand at the slowly-being-created garment and it turned royal blue.

Arthur nearly jumped out of his skin when the cloth suddenly changed colour. He gave Lukas a glare and changed it back to pink. Lukas stood with his back to the tunic and still managed to flick his wand and it became blue again.

"Cut it out, you git," Arthur snapped and changed it back with a growl of annoyance. Lukas took aim at a mirror. The spell reflected of it and shot toward the tunic but this time Arthur saw it coming and stepped in front of it and his clothes turned blue.

Lukas turned away from Arthur to hide the smile that was threatening to grace his face when a spell hit him and his clothes turned pink. After that it turned to a war between the Fae, throwing colour spells at each other, unaware that the chimney was unblocked and pink and blue magic were blasting up the flue and shooting in the air above the cottage.

Where Natalya's crow saw it as he was passing by.

* * *

Italia quickly made her way back to the cottage, thinking about how she was going to tell her uncles about the man in the woods. They would be angry that she had not only spoken to a stranger but also invited him home. But he was so handsome and she wanted to know more about him. And she was so happy to have found a new friend.

She sang her heart out as she made her way home.

* * *

Magic flew back and forth in the room, over the head of Vladimir as he obliviously continued to light the candles on the now baked birthday cake. The tunic and leggings were now finished but flashed from pink to blue and back as it was hit by random colour spells, as were Arthur and Lukas's clothes.

"Take this, you wanker!" Arthur threw another spell that Lukas avoided.

"You promised you weren't going to swear," Lukas snapped, throwing his own spell. It hit the kettle cauldron in the fireplace and it turned blue.

"Italia's not here," Arthur cast another spell and it turned the cupboard pink. "So I'll swear all l like." The two built up their magic and threw their spells at each other and hit the newly-made clothing at the same time.

The effect was like someone had thrown pink and blue paint at them from two directions, one half pink, one half blue and a splatter pattern down the centre. Enraged, Arthur got ready to fire again when Italia's singing was heard outside the cottage and getting closer.

"He's back," Arthur panicked. "Quick, hide." He took the clothes and placed them on the chair, turning them back to pink and the kettle cauldron back to its burnt colour. As Arthur grabbed Vladimir and pulled him away as he lit the last of the candles, Lukas took advantage of his distraction and changed the colour of the clothes to blue then hid behind the wardrobe, turning it back, followed by the other two.

"You did a good job with that singing blessing, Lukas," Arthur conceded as Italia's singing got louder as she came closer. It was harder to find a more beautiful sound.

Italia burst into the cottage with the news of her meeting with the blonde man who would be visiting later, but stopped short when she saw the cake and the clothes. Folded as they were, she could not tell they were men's clothing.

"SURPRISE!" the Fae shouted as they leapt from their hiding place. Italia jumped up and down in delight as she realized this was what they had been planning.

"Vee~ ," she hugged all three of them. "Ti amo con tutto il mio cuore ( _ I love you with all my heart _ ) Everything is wonderful. Just wait until you meet him!" The Fae suddenly froze.

"Him!"

"Italia!"

"Have you met a stranger?" Arthur demanded. Italia shook her head.

"Ve~ He's not a stranger," she said. "We've met before. Once upon a dream." Italia grabbed Vladimir's hands and began to dance around the room with him, singing.

"Italia's in love!" Vlad exclaimed as Italia pulled him passed.

"Oh no!" Lukas gasped. "This is dreadful!" That made Italia stop.

"Why?" she asked. "I am sixteen." Arthur realised that this was going to be delicate. He had to impart the news that not only was Italia affianced but also that he was male.

"It's not that, poppet," he said, softly. Lukas stepped forward.

"You're already betrothed," he said. "To Prince Ludwig, since the day you were born."

"Questo non è possibile!  _ (That's not possible! _ ) I can't marry a prince!" Italia protested, her dream of love beginning to erode. "I'd have to be a princess."

"Or a prince yourself," Vladimir replied. Arthur took Italia's hands in his.

"Italia," he said softly. "You're actually a boy. You were put into our care for your own protection and, for your safety, we pretended you were a girl. You are Prince Feliciano of Italy and tonight we're taking you home to your father, King Romulus." No one saw the crow listening in through the door that Italia had left open. It turned and flew away.

Ital..Feliciano was pacing the room in agitation, breathing fast and uttering 'Ve~, Ve~." The Fae desperately trying to get her .. him to calm down. He did not know how to address himself. How could they let him live such a lie and how would he tell the man in the forest about his true gender? He would not want to be with him now. Then he remembered.

"But he's coming here tonight," she … he blurted out. He had been so excited but now! This had to be a bad dream.

"I'm sorry, love," Arthur said, gently. "But you can never see that young man again."

Feliciano began to breathe fast again. The day had started so wonderfully. It was his sixteenth birthday and he had fallen in love. Now it had become a nightmare. He was not who he thought he was, not even the gender he thought he was. The man in the forest said that castle he had spent years looking at was King Romulus's. His father's? To discover you are royal was a dream for others but to him, it had taken away what he thought was his life and what he dreamed might be his future. A sob escaped him.

"NO!" he wailed as he pulled away from his 'Uncles' and ran upstairs to his room where he threw himself onto his bed and cried himself to sleep.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Italia...I mean Feliciano.....


	5. Best Laid Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Big Day has arrived at the castle....

 

** _**CHAPTER 5 : BEST LAID PLANS** _ **

The castle was nearly prepared for the celebration of Prince Feliciano's return. Green, white and red vertical striped banners hung everywhere. Italian citizens were getting fun activities ready for visitors from the other kingdoms in a party that promised to last the night although the royal visitors and ambassadors would stay for a month. There was no doubt in their minds that the curse had failed because the Forbidden Mountains were said to be still shaking with Natalya's rage. Which meant the curse had not come to fruition.

In the throne room, servants rushed here and there, placing food on a large table to the side of the room for later while King Romulus paced the floor by the window and King Wolfgang hovered around the table, sampling the food, partly because Romulus's agitated pacing was making him nervous and partly because he missed lunch.

He watched his agitated friend as he nibbled on a bite of wurst. He remembered a time when Romulus was cheerful almost to point of annoying. But that had changed with the loss of Lovino and being forced to send Feliciano into hiding. Wolfgang almost wished he was annoying again.

"Cheer up, mein freund ( _My friend_ )," he said. "Eat something. The seafood is especia..."

"I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT SEAFOOD!" Romulus bellowed. Then he realised he had just shouted at his well-meaning companion. "Mi scusi  _ (Excuse me _ ) _ , _ Wolf. It's just after all this time, never knowing..."

"Mein freund _ , _ that's all in the past," Wolfgang declared, confidently. "The boy's as good as back. After today it will all be an unpleasant memory, best forgotten." He snapped his fingers and a servant, wearing Germanic livery rushed up, carrying a bottle of wine on a tray. Wolfgang took the wine and filled two goblets that sat on the table with many others, ready for the party.

"Now, time for a toast with a fine vintage I've been saving for this very day," he handed one of the goblets to Romulus and knocked against it with his own. "To the unification of our kingdoms."

"To The United Kingdom," Romulus agreed and they both drank. They did not notice the servant sneak a goblet of the wine for himself. He agreed with Wolfgang. It was a fine vintage.

Wolfgang picked up a scroll that he had put on the table earlier in order to show Romulus and unrolled it.

"Plans?" Romulus asked.

"The newly-weds will need place of their own," Wolfgang replied. "This is a small palace really. Fourteen bedrooms, dining hall, throne room. A place to raise their little brood." While the newly-weds were both men, both could choose a royal consort and the first born son would be heir to the throne when the time came. Although, knowing Ludwig's preferences, that task would likely fall to Feliciano. He raised his goblet again. "To the new home!" Romulus, seeing no reason not to, drank with him.

"When are you going to build this?"

"Already built," Wolfgang announced, proudly. "They can move in immediately." Romulus's head span with the speed this was moving at.

"They're not married yet," he was faintly scandalized. Wolfgang waved that off.

"Have a priest waiting and that will be dealt with tonight." Romulus had to slow this down.

"I haven't even seen my son yet and you want to take him from me right away." Wolfgang, lost in the dream of the future, did not see why Romulus was getting upset.

"You'll still visit and you're getting Ludwig as a son-in-law."

"Ludwig is a fine young man," Romulus agreed. "But you must realise that Feliciano is not aware of any of this. It might come as a big shock that he's been engaged to be married all these years without knowing." Wolfgang was stunned. Shock!

"Why wouldn't your son like mine?" he demanded, feeling that his family was being slighted and his pride taking a hit.

"That's not what I said," Romulus replied, wondering why Wolfgang was suddenly so sensitive? He just wanted time to get to know the son he had been separated from for so long and to prepare him for his future. Barrelling in without thinking used to be his flaw. It seemed they had swapped roles.

"Maybe my son won't like yours," Wolfgang retorted. "Maybe my grandchildren won't want you for a grandfather." Now he was becoming insulting.

"You blustering, bad-tempered, old windbag," Romulus bit back. Wolfgang went bright red in the face.

"DAS BEDEUTET KRIEG!  _ ( _THIS MEANS WAR_! _ ) _ " _ He bellowed, picking up the nearest thing he could lay his hands on and swung it at Romulus who had picked up the nearest thing to shield himself and a steamed trout bounced off the tray that had brought in the wine. The slapping noise penetrated the red mist and the ridiculousness suddenly had both men laughing as they realised that their tempers were the result of the stress of the day and the fish incident had broken the tension.

After a full five minutes of hard laughter, Romulus gasped, "What were we fighting about?"

"Nothing!" Wolfgang chortled. "Absolutely nothing. The boys are bound to like each other."

"And as for grandchildren, I'll ordered the cradle construction tomorrow," Romulus raised his goblet. "To the grandchildren!"

"HIC!"

Romulus and Wolfgang looked around for where that noise came from and another 'hic' sounded from under the table. They looked down and saw that the servant had helped himself to more than a sip of wine and was curled around the goblet he held to his chest and gave a contented belch.

"His Royal Eminence, Prince Ludwig," a voice sounded from below the window. Wolfgang rushed out of the throne room, down into the courtyard, just in time to see Ludwig gallop in, followed by Belitz. He caught up with him as Ludwig dismounted.

"Come on, boy," Wolfgang ordered. "You need to change. You can't meet your future spouse looking like that." Gilbert came out of the mews, where his black eagle, Fritz, was being kept and walked over to them. He had his little yellow chick, Gilbird in his hair and, while Fritz was fine with him, Gilbert had not like the way the other birds of prey had eyed Gilbird like he was a tasty morsel which, to them, he was.

"We've already met," Ludwig replied. As he galloped home, the idea of marrying anyone but the girl from the forest was less and less appealing. Now he was convinced that she was his future although it still confused him to suddenly fall for a girl.

Wolfgang was surprised,"What! When?"

"Once upon a dream!," Ludwig replied, looking a little lovesick and he grabbed his father and started dancing around the courtyard with him which caused Gilbert's eyebrows to rise, seeing his normally stern brother acting so frivolously. Wolfgang shook Ludwig off.

"Stop this nonsense!"

"But we really have met, Vati  _ (Father _ ) _ ," _ Ludwig said.

"Prince Feliciano!. He's already here!. We must tell Romulus..." Ludwig stopped his father right there.

"I didn't say it was Feliciano," he said.

"Yes, you did," Wolfgang stated. "You said..."

"I said I'd met my future spouse," Ludwig clarified. "I don't know who she was," She! "A peasant girl, I think." Wolfgang could not believe his ears.

"A …. a peasant g. ," he stuttered. Ludwig was joking. He had to be joking. He did not like girls in that way. Wolfgang began to calm down.

"This is a jest, isn't it?" he asked with a smile. Which dropped when Ludwig shook his head.

"It is, isn't it," Wolfgang turned to Berlitz. He was reduced to asking a dog but the German shepherd seemed to shake his head as well. Wolfgang was horrified. Ludwig was going to throw away the throne of Italy! For a nobody!

Gilbert, on the other hand, was enjoying this immensely. Ludwig, the confirmed man-lover, was ditching sixteen years of planning for a  _ fraulein! _ If that was not proof that God had a sense of humour, he did not know what was. It surprised Gilbert, seeing his unawesome bruder doing something so  _ awesome! _

"Kesesese. Mein Gott, Bruder! ( _ My God, Brother! _ )," he laughed. "This is worthy of the Awesome Me." Wolfgang was not amused.

"Don't encourage him," he stormed, pointing his finger at Gilbert. "And you need to consider your future. I only agreed to be Regent after my cousin died because I promised him I'd look after you but I'm getting on in years and I can't continue to run two kingdoms. You should have assumed your throne a year ago but you can't until you marry, which you refuse to do but you can't put it off forever." Ludwig was inching away while his father was occupied with chewing Gilbert out.

"And where do you think you're going?" Wolfgang demanded without turning round. Then he whipped his head round to pin Ludwig with a piercing stare. "You are a prince! And you are going to marry a person of your own rank." Ludwig scoffed at the elitist statement.

"Vati, you're living in the past," he replied. "This is a new century. Nowadays …."

"I'm still the King," Wolfgang thundered. "I demand you come to your senses."

"And marry the girl I love," Ludwig answered, mounting his horse.

"And marry the girl you love," Wolfgang was so lost in his tirade he was repeating what Ludwig was saying.

"Goodbye, Vati."

"Goodbye, Vati." Goodbye, Vati! Marry the girl he …... No! "Ludwig, come back." But Ludwig was gone, followed by Berlitz.

"My bruder's becoming awesome!" cheered Gilbert, only to be clipped round the head by Wolfgang as he looked toward the darkening sky.

"Mien Gott! What will I tell Romulus?"

* * *

Four figures moved in the dimming shadows toward the secret door that, sixteen years ago, they had sneaked out of. The Fae, with their restored wings and carrying their wands, escorted Feliciano back into the castle in which he had been born. Dressed in his new male clothes, a cloak and his newly cut hair (his curl escaping the scissors), he now looked like a boy. A very pretty boy.

He was no longer his happy self, however. He felt lost. He was no longer a femmina ( _female_ ), nor a orphan. The Fae had tried to explain the threat of Natalya to him, about the why of it all but he was too upset to really listen. The castle he had looked at so often was going to be his home but it now felt more like his prison. Married to a stranger, away from his woodland home and from his new-found sweetheart. Not even the prospect of meeting his parents could raise his spirits. He just drifted along with the Fae as they made their way through the dark hallways to a door that led into private chambers. They ushered him through and locked the door. 

They moved him over to a dressing table and sat him down in front of the mirror on it. The Fae cast their wands together to create one last gift for Feliciano. A gold crown appeared in the air and Arthur took it and placed it on Feliciano's head.

"It's both your duty and your right to wear this," he said. Feliciano looked at himself in the mirror. He recognised his face, his eyes, the curl but everything else was strange. The crown just represented everything being taken from him and his eyes filled. The boy he met in the forest was a world away from him now, forever beyond his reach, but he would not look at Feliciano now anyway if he discovered he was male. Finding out he was a boy had not changed Feli's feeling for his lost love but his lost love would probably not feel the same. He did not want this. Any of it!

With a sob he put his head on the dressing table and began to cry.

Lukas placed his hand on Feliciano's shoulder in comfort but Arthur sensed their presence might make Feliciano worse.

"We should give him some time alone," he counselled and opened the door, herding the other Fae through it.

"It's that boy he met," Lukas concluded. "And then discovering everything else, it's been too much for him. Making him believe he was a girl was, perhaps, not the best idea."

"It kept him safe," Arthur replied. "But you're right. It's a lot to come to terms with. Oh! Why did he have to fall in love today?"

"I don't see why he has to marry some prince," Vladimir fumed. He wanted his merry boy back.

"It's not for us to interfere with mortal politics," Lukas warned. Vlad sniffed.

"I just want Feli to be happy."

"So do we, Vlad," Arthur replied. "So do we."

* * *

Most of Feliciano's tears had been cried and now he just sniffed, resting his head on his arm so he did not see the fire in the fireplace extinguish itself and the remaining smoke glow and become a crystal globe atop a staff being held by the shadow of a woman. A low hum began in Feli's head and fogged his mind. His head rose and he looked at the shadow of Natalya with hypnotized eyes. He stood up and he walked toward the shadow with sluggish movements as he followed the shadow as she moved toward the back of the fireplace.

The back of the fireplace vanished to reveal a door and stairs behind it and Feli continued to follow the shadow.

* * *

"I think we should tell Romulus about the boy," Lukas stated as Arthur paced, trying to think of a way to undo Feliciano's unhappiness. It was not normal for the eternally happy boy to be so depressed.

"So do I," Vlad concurred. Arthur was about to agree when he suddenly sensed something. He held up his hand for the others to be silent and homed his magic in on the feeling. That was when he felt the acidic tang of dark magic. Of a certain person.

"Natalya!" he warned and ran for the door, followed by the other Fae, just in time to see Feli slowly walking up the stairs beyond the hidden doorway. Arthur remembered that doorway. It led to a sealed off tower where a former queen had once died and her husband had walled up the entrance in grief and built the fireplace in front of it.

As the Fae rushed to the doorway the wall reappeared, cutting them off.

* * *

Feliciano slept walked up the spiralling staircase, following the shadow, until he reached three doors that led to the three turrets of the tower. The shadow went through the door on the right and climbed another set of stairs and Feli blindly followed.

* * *

The Fae combined their magic and threw the spell at the wall of the fireplace. The wall disappeared and they flew up the stairs. In their panic, they called him by his old name.

"Italia!"

"We should never have left him on his own!"

There was no answer and soon they reached the three doors. They examined them for magic and traced it to the door on the right.

* * *

Feliciano followed the shadow into the turret room and the glow from the crystal suddenly danced around and took the form of a spinning wheel. Feli continued to walk toward it and slowly reached out his hand.

* * *

Arthur, Lukas and Vladimir raced up the stairs as Arthur shouted in panic, "ITALIA, DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!"

* * *

"ITALIA, DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!" The words seemed to penetrate the fog around Feli's mind. Where was he? What was he doing here? What was that strange spinning thing in front of him?

He began to pull his hand back. The humming in his head became louder and this time there were words.

"TOUCH THE SPINDLE!"

The fog descended again and he reached out his hand. His finger rested on the spindle and the point lightly pricked his finger and broke the skin.

* * *

The Fae raced into the room and came face to face with Natalya

"You really thought that you had defeated me," She sneered at them as they stopped in shock. "Well! Here's your precious, little prince." She pulled her cloak to one side and Feliciano was laid sprawled, face down, on the floor.

Natalya began to laugh, mockingly as she stretched up and disappeared. The Fae raced to Feli's side.

Arthur picked him up and turned him over. Feli's head lolled over Arthur's arm and the crown he had so hated fell to the floor with a condemning  _ clang _ . They had been so close to saving him, had given up so much. Lukas had not seen his Troll King, Vladimir had cut himself off from his dragon lover and Arthur had separated himself from his husband and sons, to save a boy they now loved like their own. All for nothing!

They sat there, willing Feliciano's golden amber eyes to open but, of course, they remained closed.

They had failed!

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a Brit, I had to do the 'United Kingdom' bit. XP  
> But oh, my poor little Feli...…:'(


	6. The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ludwig learns a thing or two about the girl in the forest....

 

** _**CHAPTER 6 : THE TRUTH** _ **

Wolfgang returned to the throne room with a heavy heart as the sun sank lower on the horizon, trying to work out how he was going to tell his friend that Ludwig was set on marrying someone else. The idea that Feliciano was being rejected, not only for someone else but for a commoner, was not going to be well-received.

When he got there, he found that the Queen had joined Romulus and was speaking to Queen Isabella of the Kingdom of Spain as they sat together on their thrones, waiting for their son to appear. Wolfgang groaned. Telling Romulus would be bad enough but to have the two Queens witness this fiasco ….. Wolfgang had no choice but to bite the bullet.

"I have to tell you something, Rom," he began but Romulus cut him off.

"Please not now! Wolf," he replied, watching as the sun became a mere sliver on the horizon. "Feliciano will be here any minute." Wolfgang's heart sank even lower.

"But it's about Ludwig!"

"Ludwig?" Romulus looked round. "He should be here, Wolf. Better call him, immediately."

"That's what I'm trying to tell you ….." He was cut off by a fanfare of trumpets and both Kings looked out of the window. The sun had finally disappeared over the horizon.

The sound of cheering came from the streets outside as the people began to celebrate the return of their prince and fireworks lit up the sky.

* * *

Nowhere could those fireworks be seen better than from the tallest tower but the present occupants showed no interest as they stood in attendance over the sleeping Prince Feliciano.

They had moved him to the middle turret which made up the bedchamber and used a little magic to clear away the dust and spiders that had accumulated during its years of disuse. They lay Feli on the bed and covered him with a blanket. Arthur and Vladimir wept openly but while no tears streamed down Lukas's face, the corners of his eyes were bright with tears that were unshed.

Feli looked so peaceful as if the sleep was natural but the Fae did not fool themselves. He was not going to wake without help.

As they moved onto the balcony that over-looked the courtyard, they finally saw the fireworks and festivities. Their already saddened hearts broke at how this happy scene would soon turn to sorrow.

"King Romulus and the Queen," Lukas said. "They'll be devastated when they find out." Arthur brushed a tear from his eye and made a decision.

"They're not going to!" Lukas and Vlad looked at each other.

"But …?"

"We'll put them all to sleep until Feliciano awakens," he said. "Come on!" He flew into the air and reduced his size. Lukas and Vladimir did the same and they flew around the courtyard, casting sleep spells over the population. The sound of festivity grew quieter as the people succumbed. The guards drooped over their pikes and everyone slept where they dropped.

Lukas flew around the courtyard extinguishing the torches and fireplaces to reduce the risk of fire. Vladimir cast his sleep spell over the birds in the mews, Gilbert's eagle, Fritz, sleeping soundly on his perch.

When they had finished in the courtyard, they moved inside the castle.

* * *

Darkness had fallen when Ludwig finally found the cottage. A single light could be seen, burning in the window. He dismounted, told Berlitz to stay and approached the door, raised his hand, took a breath and knocked.

"Come in"

It did not sound like the girl from the forest but Ludwig reasoned that it could be her mother and he wanted to make a good impression. He slowly opened the door and stepped inside, removing his hat. A single candle burned in the window but the rest of the room was dark and all he could see were shadows.

"Guten Abend!" ( _Good Evening!_ )

The door suddenly slammed shut and the shadows suddenly converged on him in waves. He knew combat and fought as hard as he could but he was finally subdued by sheer numbers. Bound and gagged, he was forced to his knees in the centre of the room. Another candle was suddenly lit to show his face to his captor and he finally saw her. The long, silvery white hair and the blue-purple eyes were unmistakable. What was Natalya doing here?

"Well, look at this," she mocked. "What a surprise! I set out to trap a peasant but catch a prince!" She laughed at the irony. When her crow revealed where Feliciano was and how he had fallen in love, believing he was a girl, the crow had never told her the boy was Prince Ludwig. He had fallen for his own fiancé and he had no idea! How amusing!

Ludwig was trying to make sense of what was happening. Set a trap for a peasant! Was Natalya after his wood sprite?

"Take him away," she ordered her pig guards. "But be careful with our royal guest. I have plans for him." Ludwig was yanked to his feet and pulled out through the door. Outside, his horse had been captured but Berlitz was nowhere to be seen.

With a wave of Natalya's staff, they all disappeared in to the night.

* * *

Arthur flew through the throne room, casting his magic over the assembly of guests, ambassadors and, importantly, the royal family. Gilbert fell asleep on the stairs to the throne, Gilbird snoozing in his snow white hair and the Queen was already sleeping.

The last thing Romulus remembered before he succumbed was hearing Wolfgang's drowsy voice say. "After all, this is a new century."

Wolfgang was proving to be resistant to sleep magic so Arthur gave him another doze as he continued to mutter.

"Anyway," yawn! "to get to the point, Ludwig says he's going to marry," yawn! "some peasant girl."

Arthur stopped short. Peasant girl! He flew to Wolfgang's face and pulled on his hair.

"What about the peasant girl?" he demanded as Wolfgang eyes began to close. He forced one of the eyelids open. "Where did he meet her?"

With a final yawn, Wolfgang replied, "Once upon a dream." He succumbed to the sleep spell and Arthur was in shock. Once upon a dream! Feliciano and Ludwig! He had to find the others.

He saw them up by the candle chandelier, putting out the candles and flew up to them.

"We have to get back to the cottage now!" he said urgently. "I'll tell you on the way." Arthur flew to the window and out, the others following. As he pass, Lukas saw a drunk servant crawl out from under the food table. As he flew out of the window he threw a spell and the servant went back to sleep.

As they flew through the courtyard, they heard barking. A large German shepherd ran into the courtyard. When he saw them, he ran, barked and turned back the way he came.

"He wants us to follow him," Vlad concluded. So they did.

* * *

Arthur had a bad feeling when he realised the dog was leading them to the cottage. They regained full size and flew inside.

There had clearly been a struggle, the place was a mess and in the middle of the mess was a man's hat and the area stank of Natalya's magic.

"Natalya has Prince Ludwig," Lukas said. Arthur picked up the hat.

"At the Forbidden Mountain," he replied. Vlad went pale.

"We can't go there!"

"We have to!"

* * *

A teleport spell later and they were at the foot of the Forbidden Mountains, making their way up to the crumbling drawbridge. They had to hide as the guards patrolled the parapets of the imposing castle. They became small and flew under the drawbridge out of sight, entering the castle through the openings for the chains that raised it and soon found themselves in Natalya's throne room.

Natalya was sat on her throne as a party raged among the pig guards not on duty, her crow sat on her hand. The crow was her proudest creation. More intelligent than her pig creatures and under her absolute control. But then, the pig guards had been created from actual pigs. The crow had originally been human.

Speaking of human.

"It's a pity Prince Ludwig can't join us for this," She said to her crow as she stroked it. "Perhaps we can go cheer him up." The crow gave her a strange look that for some reason made her laugh as she left the throne room.

The Fae skirted the throne room, so not to be seen, and followed her out. They followed her down into the dungeons in the bowels of the castle.

* * *

Ludwig sat on a bench in the cell he'd been brought to. His wrists had long chains attached that were driven into the wall. On the other side of the cell was a axe in a block, probably to scare the occupants as to what was going to happen to them. If he could reach it, he could free himself but it was like it had been placed just out of his reach to torment him. He was still figuring out what had happened, why Natalya had been at the cottage?

It crossed his mind that maybe the girl had been a trap for him but she had seemed too innocent and Natalya said she had been expecting a commoner. Was it the girl she was after? If so, why? What did Natalya want with a woodland peasant girl?

It also crossed his mind that perhaps this was something to do with Prince Feliciano. After all, he had been Natalya's target for sixteen years but Ludwig just could not see a connection.

A noise outside the cell drew his attention, a key grated in the lock and Natalya walked through the door, the crow on her shoulder. Ludwig threw her a death glare.

Natalya stared back. This was a man who would do anything for the one he loved. Why could Ivan not do that for her?

 

_ " _ _ _ I will not marry you, Natalya!" Ivan said with conviction although (but he would never admit this) she made him nervous. Over the past few years, there had been something increasingly off about Natalya, accumulating in her obsession for wanting to marry him, her own brother! _ _

 

_ " _ _ _ Why not, brother?" she demanded, a dark aura falling over her. "Why should we not become one?" _ _

 

_ " _ _ _ You answered your own question. Because I'm your brother, Natalya. Us, marry! Nyet! ( _ _ _ No! _ _ _ ) It's unnatural and I could never love you in such a way." Natalya's mood darken further if that were possible. _ _

 

_ " _ _ _ Our sweet older sister has contaminated you with her opinions and turned you against me. I knew she had." Ivan suddenly froze. _ _

 

_ " _ _ _ What do you know about Katyusha?" he said, suspiciously. When Katyusha suddenly disappeared, Ivan had sent servants and used his ice magic to try to find her but there was no sign, other than a hint of magic too old to trace. Now, with what Natalya had blurted out, he had a new lead to follow. _ _

 

_ " _ _ _ She stood between us. She wanted you for herself!" Ivan knew for sure now that his sister was insane. _ _

 

_ " _ _ _ She never wanted me like that. She loved me as her brother. What did you do to her?" Natalya just smiled a sinister smile. _ _

 

_ " _ _ _ I will find her with or without your help, Natalya I will never be your husband, I don't even want you for a sister now. I wish to be surrounded by people who love, not obsess!" Natalya's face turned ugly. _ _

 

_ " _ _ _ Let's see anyone love you after this!" she screamed. Ivan raised his hooked, diamond-topped staff to defend himself but Natalya was faster and there was a blinding white light. _ _

 

 

_ Natalya _ came back to the present and Ludwig, deciding if she could not have her heart's desire, no one would.

"Oh, Prince Ludwig!" she chuckled. "Why the bad mood? You're destined to be a great fairytale hero, you know!" Ludwig continued to stare daggers at her.

"Don't believe me?" Natalya said, sweetly. "Very well!" She waved her hand over the crystal on of her staff and an image appeared between them, showing the castle.

"King Romulus's castle," Natalya said and the picture moved to the highest turret. "And in the topmost tower, dreaming of his new-found love, is Prince Feliciano." The picture broke apart and then reformed to show the bedchamber. "But isn't this ironic. It's the forest girl you fell in love with only hours ago." Ludwig saw the young man sleeping and recognised him immediately. His hair was now short and he was now dressed as a male but the face and curl were as familiar to him as his own face. His wood sprite was Feliciano! He would have laughed at Fate's sense of humour if Natalya was not watching. It explained why he was so attracted to a girl when it had never happened before. It also explained why Natalya was waiting at the cottage. She had clearly succeeded in enacting her curse but breaking the curse was well-known. True love's kiss. She did not want him reaching Feliciano.

"Beautiful boy, isn't he," she observed as Ludwig stared at the image of Feli in his mind. "Kirkland may be an interfering busybody but his gift of beauty was a masterpiece. Yes, he's a very beautiful boy. He won't age while he sleeps either so he'll stay that way for a long time." The image vanished.

"How long are you willing to wait to go to him?" she asked mockingly. "A day, a year, a hundred years. It shouldn't matter if you love him." The image few apart again and reformed, showing Ludwig on his horse but he was old and stooped. His horse clopped slowly through gates that parted to let them through, the horse as old as him.

"The gates will open and you'll be free to go to your love and wake him with true love's kiss. And prove that True Love Conquers All." Natalya laughingly mocked as Ludwig lunged at her, only to be stopped by the chains around his wrist.

"Come, my pet," she said to the crow. "Let's leave Prince Ludwig to his happy thoughts." she left the cell and locked the door behind her.

"Finally," she said to herself. "I shall finally sleep." She put the key in a pocket in her cloak, climbed the stairs and left.

Ludwig had sat back down on the bench, thinking about everything he had just learnt. He did not notice the Fae fly in and regain full size as he wondered why Feliciano had been pretending to be female.

"Feli believed he was female because we told him he was," Arthur told him, guessing what was running through Ludwig's head. "To keep him safe." Ludwig nearly jumped out of his skin when he looked up and saw the Fae. He recognised the green-eyed one. So he was right, Feliciano had been the girl he met in Rome when he was eight. This time, he did let himself laugh.

Arthur and Lukas took a wrist each and used their magic to release him. Vladimir worked on the door. The chains fell from Ludwig's wrist with a clang. He rubbed them and went to leave but he was stopped by Arthur.

"You can't go out unprepared," he warned. "There are many obstacles in your way so you'll need these." He flicked his wand at Ludwig twice. A sword appeared in his right hand and a shield on his left arm. They left the cell and moved up the stairs, making as little noise as they could and finally out of the dungeons.

Where they ran straight into Natalya's crow!

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feliciano is waiting, Ludwig …..


	7. The Path Of True Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know what they say about the smooth path of True Love … It doesn't exist …

 

** _**THE PATH OF TRUE LOVE** _ **

 

The crow shot off in the opposite direction, cawing all the way. Vlad chased after it to stop it from rousing the castle while Arthur, Lukas and Ludwig ran for the outside but some of the pig guards were already coming for them.

Ludwig put the sword and shield to good use as he fended off Natalya's minions but they still managed to push him back against a glassless window. With nowhere left to go, Ludwig leapt from the window and began to slide down a rocky incline below.

Vladimir was firing off spells in a effort to bring the crow down but, so far, it had managed to avoid them. He chased it around the castle's highest tower as it tried to reach Natalya. Suddenly Vlad went the opposite way and, as the crow flew into the Romanian Fae's sights, he readied his wand.

 

_ While, by darkness's side you stay _

 

_ You will stand as stone and clay. _

 

The spell hit the crow as he flew onto a plinth of the outdoor staircase and immediately froze. Its brown feathers turned grey and it became a crow statue with outstretched wings, its caw, silenced. Vlad nodded with satisfaction and joined the others who had made it to a small courtyard where Ludwig's horse was chained. Arthur made short work of the chain and Ludwig swung himself into the saddle.

But the crow had done its job.

Natalya, furious at having her first decent night's sleep in sixteen years interrupted, stormed out of the tower screaming,"SILENCE!" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her crow and turned to it.

"You!" she commanded. "Tell those noisy idiots to..." She noticed then that something was wrong. Stone! Her crow was stone! She looked down into the courtyard and saw Ludwig galloping out of the courtyard, followed by the Fae.

"NO!" she shrieked as Ludwig headed for the outer courtyard, she welded her staff and lightning blasted a stone archway into rocks that rained down on Ludwig who covered his head with the shield and kept riding.

"ARCHERS!"

Guards stood on the ramparts, levelled crossbows at the fleeing prince and fired. Lukas threw a spell at the speeding bolts. Ludwig raised his shield but instead of arrows bouncing off, his shield was pelted by purple heather and he continued unimpeded. Ludwig, speeding toward the outer wall, saw the last of Natalya's forces shoved boulders from the walkway. They were too big to deflect with the shield and Ludwig was going too fast to stop.

But Arthur had it covered

He threw a spell at the falling boulders and a rainbow appeared below them and the boulders vanished as they hit the rainbow. The portcullis dropped but too late to stop Ludwig from making it through. Natalya screamed in frustration and flung out her staff. Lightning flashed out and blasted away the drawbridge. Ludwig's horse leapt but it was too far without help.

The Fae flew under Ludwig's horse and cast their spells upward and they rose higher and when Ludwig and his horse began to fall the magic slowed them down and they made it to the other side. Barely.

The Fae combined their magic and transported themselves and Ludwig to the outskirts of Romulus's kingdom.

Natalya screamed at the top of her voice then waved her staff at the sky. Clouds gathered and then parted, showing a picture of King Romulus's castle. Natalya waved her staff around her head and chanted in her native Belarusian.

 

_ _ Forest of thorns, seal the gate _ _

_ _ Surround Romulus's castle with my hate _ _

_ _ The curse-breaker comes, you will defend _ _

_ _ And not allow my curse to end. _ _

 

A dark and ugly fog built as Natalya turned her staff in the air and sped toward the castle image when she pointed at it. As it pass through it was instantly transported to the castle.

* * *

Ludwig and the Fae had appeared by the woods where Feliciano had lived as Italia and kept going, heading for the castle when suddenly, a dark cloud flew over their heads and hit the ground a mile ahead.

Cracks appeared in the ground and shoots grew from them. They thickened and grew thorns then grew higher and outward. The thorns grew sharper and the forest of thorns only stopped growing when it had formed a full circle around the castle. Ludwig's horse reared up and almost unseated him when they came up to the dangerous shrubbery. Ludwig swung his sword and began chopping through the sharp, thorn-covered branches. The progress was slow but he began to make his way toward the castle and Feliciano.

The Fae threw spells at the thorns that seemed to reach out to grab at Ludwig's clothes as he cut through more branches and slowly cleared a path. He finally reached the other side and pushed away the last of the thorns to see the castle's outer wall less than a mile away.

He was almost there.

* * *

Natalya had been watching with growing fury as Ludwig thwarted her every attempt to stop him and was about to undo the curse and everything she had accomplished.

"I WON'T LET THIS HAPPEN!" she shrieked and held her staff in the air. She transformed into a swirling cloud of fire and flew through the picture cloud.

She would deal with Prince Ludwig directly.

* * *

The Fae flew ahead to clear Ludwig's way and he galloped toward the outer wall of the castle and was nearing the drawbridge when a ball of fire hit the ground just in front of it. His horse pranced away from the fire as it transformed into Natalya, her face a mask of fury.

"Ready to face me, Prince?" she sneered. "Ready to face the forces of DARKNESS!"

Fire exploded around her and her shadow seemed to stretch high into the sky with the fire but when it cleared, Natalya no longer stood there.

A large, black dragon appeared in her place, wings outstretched and breathing fire. Dragon Natalya took a deep breath and blew fire at Ludwig. Although it somehow managed to miss his horse, it blew Ludwig off his back, saved only by his enchanted shield. Ludwig ran back to the thorn forest for cover and Natalya followed him, snapping at his heels. He hid in a dense thicket and when Natalya's dragon head pushed through the thorns he struck her on the snout with the sword. Natalya howled in pain and anger, then set fire to the thorn thicket where Ludwig had been hiding but Ludwig had already moved away from the thicket as he pushed further back into the forest but the fire was heading his way. He came up against a cliff and had no choice but to climb. He put his sword in his belt, strapped the shield to his back and began to ascend.

* * *

The Fae, finding no threat ahead of them in the castle, returned to find the thorns behind them alight and a black dragon standing amidst it all. And no sign of Ludwig.

They raced back, hoping they were not too late!

* * *

Ludwig's muscles ached from the arduous climb but he was now above the fire and beyond its reach but, as he pulled himself over the edge, he was also back in full view of Natalya

He retrieved his shield from his back and drew his sword as Natalya towered over him. As she lunged toward him, he swung the sword, forcing her to back away. She drew in a deep breath and blew fire with all her might. He raise his shield but the force blasted it from Ludwig's arm and it sailed back down the cliff, leaving Ludwig unprotected.

Dragon Natalya raised herself up, ready to go in for the kill. Ludwig had raised the sword, determined to go down fighting, when Arthur appeared at his side, his wand dripping with magic.

 

_ _ Magic sword, take speedy flight. _ _

 

_ _ Destroy the evil and save the light. _ _

  
  


"Now, throw it!" he ordered Ludwig. Ludwig did as he was told, although he doubted his ability to be able to throw a sword that far with any force or accuracy but the magic made the sword fly with the speed and accuracy of an arrow and bury itself to the hilt in Dragon Natalya's heart. Dragon Natalya howled in pain and thrashed in her death throes. As she headed toward the side of the cliff, Ludwig leapt to one side as the huge body fell over the edge in an explosion of fire.

After the blaze died, Ludwig looked over the edge of the cliff but there was no dragon body. Instead there was Natalya's cloak with the sword stuck through it into the ground. The forest of thorns had vanished along with the sorceress who had summoned them.

At last, it was over. The Fae landed next to him and they looked toward the castle, failing to see the cloak glow and the glow absorb into the ground, and set their minds to the last task. Time to wake everyone. Time to wake Feliciano.

Time for True Love's Kiss!

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we get to the fluffy stuff ...


	8. True Love's Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to wake up, Feliciano....

_**TRUE LOVE'S KISS** _

 

Ludwig entered the outer courtyard of King Romulus's castle, his eyes wide at all the people scattered around, sleeping. He heard a bark and Berlitz, the only creature still awake, bounded over to him, jumped up and slobbered all over him. Ludwig laughed and gave the order to stand down. He went inside the castle, winding his way through passages, stepping over sleeping guards, servants and visitors as the Fae lead the way to the highest tower. They made their way to the chamber with the hidden staircase and Ludwig ran up the steps, two at a time. The Fae stopped when they reached the three archways. Arthur pointed to the middle one.

"Feliciano is up there," he said. "We will remain here. This moment is for you and Feli."

Ludwig began to climb the stairs to the bedchamber, feeling rather nervous. He knew that Feliciano had believed himself to be a girl all his life. How would he feel now he knows differently? Would he want a husband? Would he still want him?

With all these fears running around in his head, his palms were sweating as he reached the top of the stairs and stepped into the bedchamber.

The sun shone through the balcony window, falling on the bed and bathing Prince Feliciano's sleeping form in golden light. As Ludwig stared at him, he decided Natalya was right about one thing. Feli was a beautiful, young man.

Ludwig sat beside him and ran his fingers down the soft, smooth skin of Feliciano's cheek, then he leant down and softly pressed his lips to Feli's

* * *

Feliciano had been lost in darkness, he did not know how long for, feeling and hearing nothing. He thought he might have been asleep but there had been no dreams, his fantasy prince, absent. Then, suddenly, he felt something touch his lips, something smooth and firm. It felt nice and warm. It was followed by light he could see through his eyelids and he felt he needed to see more of it. His eyes opened and focused on a face hovering above his. He felt confused at first, not remembering, and then recognised the blue eyes and blonde hair of the man from the forest. He was here! He was really here!

* * *

Ludwig watched his love's eyes slowly opened from the enchanted sleep, releasing the breath he had been holding while waiting to see if the kiss would break the curse. At first, Feliciano looked bemused, then a look of recognition flooded his face.

"Vee~," he cried and wrapped his arms around Ludwig's neck and hugged him with all his might.

Happiness filled Feliciano's entire being. His sweetheart was in his arms and he felt him hug him back. Then reality flooded in. He had to tell him what he really was and it would break Feliciano's heart to see his love turn from him. He pulled away.

Ludwig felt the change in Feliciano and despaired. Feliciano knew he was male and was hugging another man. As Feliciano pulled away from him, Ludwig expected to see disgust in his eyes. The look Feli actually wore confused him. Feli looked sad and fearful, like someone preparing to tell someone they cared about something bad. Then he realised. Feli was about to tell him his true gender and was expecting rejection so Ludwig made it easier for him.

"Greetings, Prince Feliciano," he said, softly. "I'm Prince Ludwig."

Feli stared for a moment. He had called him Prince Feliciano! He knew! He knew and was still here, no disgust or contempt on his face. He had called himself Ludwig. Was that not what the Fae had said his fiancé was called? Did he dare hope?

"I believe you are my husband to be!"

Unable to hold back his happiness, Feli wrapped his arms around Ludwig's neck again and, this time, brought his head down for a kiss.

* * *

In the meantime, the Fae were looking out of the window as the people had begun to awake as soon as Ludwig's lips had touched Feli's. They looked around in confusion, wondering why they had been asleep. It was morning and no one knew if Prince Feliciano had returned. The guards looked ashamed of themselves for falling asleep on duty but it then became clear that it had happened to everyone and rumours abound. Had it been Natalya? Was that why no one knew anything about Prince Feliciano returning? Had she succeeded after all?

In the throne room, Gilbird awoke first. He ruffled his little feathers and chirped down at Gilbert who slowly began to rouse. Romulus awoke more quickly, followed by Wolfgang. The rest of the court woke at their own pace, except the drunk servant who happily snoozed on.

Aghast that he had fallen asleep while his friend had been talking, Romulus begged," Mi scusi _(Excuse me_ ) _,_ Wolf. Too much wine. Now what were you saying?"

Wolfgang was still slightly sleep-dazed, struggling to make sense of what his friend was saying and shook his head to clear it.

"Oh yes!" he remembered. "After all, this is a new century." Romulus frowned. He heard that before.

"You said that a moment ago," he commented, wondering if Wolfgang had had too much wine as well. Wolfgang was just going to have to come right out with it.

"Well, to get to the point," he replied, bracing himself. "Ludwig says he's going to marry a ….."

A fanfare of trumpets cut him off and the throne room doors began to open.

"Feliciano!" Romulus cried and turned to the Queen. "Our son is here." Everyone turned to the doors.

Wolfgang watched as the young, sixteen year old walked into the room. A beautiful boy with amber eyes and auburn hair with a curl on the left side but what had Wolfgang staring was that the young prince had entered the room, hugging the arm and staring adoringly into the face of his son, Ludwig!

He turned to King Romulus in confusion to see his friend with the light in his eyes he had had in his youth. The Queen was crying tears of joy as she saw her child for the first time in sixteen years. She held out her arms to the boy and Feli, instinctively knowing this was his mother, ran straight into them. Romulus wrapped his arms around both of them and held his family close. Not a single person in the throne room was without a tear (although Gilbert was too awesome to admit it). Only one person was missing now but they would keep looking. For now, they would rejoice in this moment.

Wolfgang was more confused. Ludwig said he want to marry a girl but then he turns up with Prince Feliciano (He could not be anyone else, he resembled his father). Had he come to his senses? Possibly, although Ludwig could be stubborn when he got a idea in his head.

"What does this mean?" he demanded of his son. "What happen to ….?" Feliciano came up to him and kiss him, Italian-style, on both cheeks. At which point he decided to stop questioning it and go with the flow.

Gilbert did not know what was happening either but shouted, "Awesome, bruder!" Gilbird also chirped his approval.

As the music started, Ludwig pulled Feli into his arms and began to dance with him as the Fae came onto a balcony above the throne room. They were overjoyed (not that Lukas showed it) at the joyful scene as Ludwig and Feli whirled around the floor, slowly joined by other couples as the celebrations began to get fully under way.

Vladimir gave a deep sigh but had a smile on this face. The others turned to him.

"What's wrong?" asked Arthur.

"Nothing," Vlad replied. "We almost didn't make it but I'm glad we got the happy ending."

"So am I," Arthur said, looking back at the happy couple and that was when he realised.

"BLUE!" he gasped, looking at Lukas with exasperation, then flicked his wand.

"Pink!" he commanded. Feli's clothing turned pink. Lukas gave Arthur a dead stare and flicked his own wand.

"Blue!"

"PINK!"

"BLUE!"

Feli danced around the floor, so absorbed in Ludwig, he never noticed his clothes changing colour. Ludwig, lost in his love's eyes, did not noticed either but the guests, especially Gilbert,

laughed as the two Fae waged their colour war and looked forward to the future.

* * *

A seventeen year-old man lay naked at the top of the staircase to Natalya's tower chamber, shivering. There were no pig guards to see him there, just a lot of pigs wandering about and empty armour lying around. When Natalya was destroyed, while her curses remained, all her spells were broken, including those on the crow. First, the spell of control dissolved and, because the stone spell specifically said _While, at darkness's side you stay_ that also broke because he was no longer a servant of Natalya's darkness and he became flesh again. Then, finally, the spell of transformation faded away and his body began to change.

His body had grown, his legs thickened and his claws became human feet. His feathers withdrew into his body and his wings became arms as his torso grew and widened. His head expanded, his beak pulled back into his head and the remaining feathers became dark brown hair with a hint of red and a curl stuck out on the right side. Never having stood as a human before, he collapsed from the plinth and landed at the top of the staircase.

He knew who he really was. Natalya had taunted him enough with the information when alone, telling him his parents had given up on him, that they had a new child to replace him. He had seen his little brother when she had placed her curse on him and wondered if it was true. He had wondered until she sent him out searching to find Feliciano. During his search, he had happened across an Italian cortège and heard them talking about finding the missing older Prince and he knew Natalya had lied.

He wanted to call out to them, to tell them he was here but the control spell prevented him and they would not recognise a crow anyway.

He had not wanted to reveal Feliciano's whereabouts when he found him nor alert Natalya when he found Prince Ludwig escaping but that accursed spell made him and he was almost glad that Fae had turned him to stone to stop him. Almost.

Now he was free. He opened his caramel coloured eyes and began to push himself to his knees. He gingerly put one foot on the ground and, using the staircase wall, shakily pulled himself into a stand position.

While he was unused to standing as a human, he had used his muscles as a bird so they were firm and strong. Carefully he took his first human step, then another, then another. He slowly made his way into the chamber and out of the cold. He found a blanket, wrapped it around him and sat down on Natalya's bed. And then he began formulating a plan. Once he was more comfortable in his human form, he would find some appropriate clothing, raid Natalya's treasure chamber and he would make his way back to his family.

Prince Lovino was coming home!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next : A Father's prospective.....


End file.
